►In 1979, the Iran hostage crisis began as militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran, seizing its occupants; for some, it was the start of 444 days of captivity.

►In 1980, Ronald Reagan won the White House as he defeated President Jimmy Carter by a strong margin.

►In 1987, 6-year-old Elizabeth (Lisa) Steinberg was pronounced dead at a New York City hospital in a child-abuse case that sparked national outrage; her illegal adoptive father, Joel Steinberg, served nearly 17 years behind bars for manslaughter.

►In 1991, Ronald Reagan opened his presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif.; in attendance were President George H.W. Bush and former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald R. Ford, and Richard Nixon — the first-ever gathering of five past and present US chief executives.

►In 2002, President George W. Bush barnstormed through four battleground states — Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas — in a final appeal for Republicans in Congress; Democrats worked for a strong voter turnout to tilt key races their way.

►In 2007, King Tutankhamun’s face was unveiled for the first time to the public more than 3,000 years after the pharaoh was buried in his Egyptian tomb. Citigroup Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Charles Prince, beset by the company’s billions of dollars in losses from investing in bad debt, resigned. Paula Radcliffe outlasted Gete Wami to win her second New York City Marathon in 2:23:09. Martin Lel of Kenya won his second men’s title, in 2:09:04.

►In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama was elected the first black president of the United States, defeating Republican John McCain.

►In 2011, a Syrian peace plan brokered just days earlier by the Arab League unraveled as security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters, killing at least 15. Alfonso Cano, 63, a bespectacled middle class intellectual who rose from chief ideologist to maximum leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, was killed in a military attack. ‘‘60 Minutes’’ commentator Andy Rooney, 92, died in New York a month after his farewell segment on the show.

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